I am going to use these 3 Music Videos based on similarities of genre/artist(s) (Influential Media Texts) to conduct feedback interviews with my audience to gather their psychographic preferences,opnions and values.
1. How would you rate the following?(1 being lowest 10 being highest)-
Editing 1-10
Cinematography 1-10
Mise-en-Scene 1-10
Lighting 1-10
Performance of the Artist(s) 1-10
2. What did you like best about the Music Video?
3. What did you dislike about the Music Video?
4. What could be done to improve the Music Video?
At the start of my Foundation Portfolio I had to do two
Preliminary exercises. One was to create a fragrance advert and the other,
which was more relevant was to create a magazine on college life.To produce this work we had to use desktop
publishing (such as Microsoft Word and Publisher) and also image manipulation
software, Photoshop CS5 version.The
preliminary task for the fragrance advert helped us learn basic skills within
Photoshop and developed further as we did the college magazine for the other preliminary
task.For the collegemagazine I had to create a front cover along
the guidelines of it being a medium close-up photo of student(s), appropriately
laid out text and also a masthead and main headline.This helped progress into more in-depth skills
of photo shop ready to start my music magazine, and how music magazines are
conventionally set out for my Foundation Portfolio. For my Foundation Portfolio
I created a front cover, contents page and double-page spread. All the imagery
for my magazine had to be original and needed at least 4 original photos
produced by me.I chose to create my
magazine along the lines of an indie-rock/pop genre and I felt my
photos/article would summarise this.
In my Foundation Portfolio I used image-manipulation programme
Photoshop CS5 to make my own photography look more professional for the
magazine.As I had no in-depth Media
knowledge before I started my Media course (unlike others who had taken it at
GCSE Course) Photoshop especially in my preliminary tasks I found this a little
bit of a struggle and sometimes confusing.However as I got to grips with it Photoshop let me edit my photos to a
standard that even official music magazines could, the main grasp being finding
tools and knowing how to use them properly and effectively. I also had a little trouble with my first set
of photos, the photography didn’t portray the genre of the magazine properly
and some photos seemed to unclear after a set the text out over them, so I
decided to take another set of photos. The images I set for the final designs
were much better and in sync with the genre, and also easy to edit.An ideal photo to use for the magazine cover
was preferably a medium close-up of the artist (in focus) , and to show eye
contact. Another issue (which I had trouble with on previous drafts) was to
make sure there was enough room for the Masthead above the models head, and not
let text overlook the image too much.This made me do several drafts and as previously said, another
photo-shoot . Other magazine conventions that needed to be included was- Main
Headline, Bar-Code, Date/Issue Number, Skyline, Subtitle and so on. Therefore it would look professional with
typical conventions, communicating with the audience that it was ‘something
worth buying’.
As part of the creativity process I firstly planned a colour
scheme of Coral-Red, Black and White. I also used the ‘Layering’ technique on
Photoshop so I could correctly create different effects on my Portfolio
magazine. I researched the typical conventions of a music magazine.For my Masthead I used a simple ‘Calibri’
font (previously Onyx in other earlier drafts) and advanced this with learnt
skills such as the Bevel/Emboss, Stroke in white, with an Outer-Glow, and also
a Drop Shadow on the text.Using colours
such as Black and White was basic, but it was simple yet effective. I also
heightened the angles of the text to make the Drop Shadow look more effective,
I had advanced a standard font into a professional magazine Masthead.I also used the airbrushing and spot-removal
tool on my model’s skin to make her look more defined, like stereo-typical
models on existing magazines which gave her a professional complexion.I also made the brightness and contrast of
the whole image slightly higher as I wanted a professional ‘photo-shoot’ look
to my image.I also gave my model
different coloured hair (out of my own Photoshop research)to a quirky red (this went with the
stereotypical indie/rock look I based my magazine on). I did this by using a
‘Soft Light’ layer to the image, lowering the Opacity levels (to make it look
less like ‘paint’ on her hair) and also advanced my skills in the paintbrush
tool box, using various brushes such as the 300 circular brush on thicker parts
of her hair, then the 11 brush which was more delicate for more accurate,
‘wispy’ bits of hair.After I had
finished this I duplicated the layer used clipping masks and Hue and Saturation
to change the colour and mess around with it till I got the correct colour I
liked. For the backing on my magazine Cover lines I used the rectangle tool,
and also used the shape tool for the Splash/Puffs on my cover. I filled these
with colour and changed the opacity to make some of the shades more
‘see-through’.All these skills helped
me advance hugely and find Photoshop a lot easier as I was discovering more
which advanced my photos. For the
actual photography I was able to dress and style the model in suitable clothing
e.g. indie fashion, ‘rebellious’ hair etc. as an identification in relevance to
the genre.Once I had finished my final
designs, I printed them off to show my class (i.e. audience) and created my own
questionnaire to see their opinions on my final front-cover, double-page spread
and contents page. I also filmed one member of my audience with a video camera
who did a review on her personal view of my products and more in-depth detail
than the questionnaire.
For the research I firstly looked at existing music
magazines such as NME, Kerrang!, Rolling Stone and Billboard. I looked
especially at the conventions they had used and also to what extent they had
used them. A lot of them looked bold and simple, a common convention between
all of them.As for NME for example they
have a bold red front, shadowed with black and bordered with white always in
the top left corner of the magazines. On some editions they have the whole font
in white with no shadowing, e.g special editions etc. I also looked at artists
who were relevant to indie-rock/ pop and looked especially into existing music
magazines ‘NME’ and ‘Frank’ as they are popular with the genre.I mainly used the internet and music magazine
issues as sources of research, and used the internet and my own personal taste
in music for my choice in creating the magazine for my Foundation Portfolio.
Qualitative Data- Gathers information that is not in numerical form, such as statistics. Qualitative provides a more indepth description and provides more of a meaning. Used in such methods such as Case Studies and interviews.
Quantitative Data- Quantitative Data focuses more on numbers and frequency, rather than meaning and 'experience'. They provide information which is easy to analyse statistically and fairly reliable. They are associated with Scientific and Experimental approach, however are critisied for a vague description.
Storyboard of Existing Music Video- Lana Del Rey's 'Born to Die'Sheet 1 of 2
Box 1:
Shot Description-Zooms in on couple in front of waving USA flag. Continuous. Sepia tone editing into the filming.Medium close up as zooms in. Cuts to the next scene.
Shot Duration: 0:12
Box 2:
Shot Description: Filmed at low angle, camera tilt from ceiling to floor(faces embellished ceiling to floor of room,lowering to Lana on throne). Establishing shot of the room. Continuous. Lana lip syncs as the dialogue starts.
Shot Duration: 0:13
Box 3:
Shot Description:Scene continues but starts to zoom in on Lana and two tigers beside her, ending in a medium shot of her sat on the throne. Lana still continuously lip syncs.
Shot Duration: 0:19
Box 4:
Shot Description: Scene then cuts to a long shot of a man leaning on his car bonnet, waiting for Lana, then she enters the scene, running up to him. Song is 'voiced over' the scene.
Shot Duration: 0:05
Sheet 2 of 2
Box 5:
Shot Description:Scene cross cuts to a medium close-up of Lana jumping and cuddling the man.Only lighting used is the car headlights on the set. Song is still 'voiced over' scene.
Shot Duration:0:03
Box 6:
Shot Description:Jump cuts in the same scenario to a medium shot of Lana and the man 'making out'on the car bonnet. Still the song is 'voiced over' on the scene.
Shot Duration: 0:03
Box 7:
Shot Description: Jump cuts back to Lana on the throne, medium close-up of her now 'lip-syncing'the song. No direct contact with the camera till the last second of the scene (body language).
Conventions of existing Music Videos of a similar genre to my selected song
'Primadonna' by Marina & The Diamonds
Mise-en-Scene
The video for 'Primadonna'by Marina and The Diamonds only features Marina as a 60's/70's chic (which is also part of her recent initial style). The only other 'characters' featured in the video is a Great Dane dog and a tortoise. The video's settings is what seems to be an old mansion/Country house&garden, which is 60's/70's decor (busily patterned wallpaper,curtains, chandeliers,frayed lampshades,old-dial telephones,velour bed-throws etc.)There is also the setting of Marina in a vintage car being driven round and also in a car-wash. Marina is in 60's/70's clothing, such as pastel pink and white pinafore dresses, metallic ballgown and cream fur shawl,a blue v neck 70's dress and a vintage nightie,she also styles pinned up 'rollers', and 60's 'flick' hairstyles with pastel make up in contribution to the style. She also sports a love heart 'beauty-spot'which is very Marilyn Monroe-esque (movie star of around that era). The lighting for most the video,although in a house is dark, aside the spotlight which is featured on Marina. The only other lighting shown is when she is outside in the garden in the daytime,and when the chandeliers gradually light up one of the rooms halfway through the video. Props used in the video is when she is holding a vase of plants, pedaling on a dated exercise bike with a drink, reading a book, climbing a ladder to get to pick fruit off a tree,using a video camera,picking up slices of pizza,bunches of grapes and playing on an old grande piano. Marina uses 'personal'body language for the majority of the video, staring into the camera singing and also sometimes just facial expressions,as if to connect with the viewer. Marina's expressions also seem happy throughout the video, aside when she is in the car she looks sad. Marina also dances round the camera and does various activities in some shots as if she doesn't know the audience 'is there'.
Cinematography
Many of the scenes in the video Marina is shot in a close-up,and also medium close-ups. In the majority of close-ups Marina is in front of a white wall, and medium close-ups is when she is on the bed, but some of these are also close-ups. Medium shots are when she is pedaling on the exercise bike, dancing in a room full of chandeliers,eating an apple on the step-ladder and also in other bed scenes. There is also some long shots of her dancing in the chandelier room,in the garden/on the step ladder and holding a plant in one of the rooms and on the exercise bike. There is also close-ups of the dog,tortoise and her lips as she sings. There is a medium shot of her sat in the back seat of a vintage car and also close-ups (some extreme close-ups) of the water droplets on the car window and screen wipers as she goes through the car-wash, and also of some of the car furnishings. There is also a close-up of Marina in the car over the headrest. There is medium close ups of her next to the dog,tortoise and 'answering'the phone. There is also some slightly high angles of Marina on the double-bed.
Editing
The video uses many jump cuts for Marina in scenes. There is also some cross cutting in scenes such as when she is picking fruit off the trees in the garden and then focusing on eating the fruit, and also playing around in the garden. Special effects used are particularly focused on the whole 'vintage-esque' setting, as Marina is filmed in different 'old tv' settings, such as grainy, scan lines,'Polaroid' film,blue red and green tones and also mild Sepia colours. A close-up of a vintage tv showing the same type of effects on the screen shows relevance. When in all the car/car wash scenes this is all filmed in black and white. A lot of the video is continuity editing,the only transitions made are when the actual screen of the video is made to look like a tv losing ariel and picture, and changing to a different scene.The opening scene is also a title sequence, first showing 'Marina and The Diamonds' and then the song title 'Primadonna'on a purple and black backdrop,in black font (the signature font on the album). There is also a light relflection of the blue/red/green tv tones shown in the music video.
Sound and Form
In the scenes Marina is 'singing' the song she is lipsyncing. The song is also a voiceover for many of the scenes as Marina is not always lipsyncing but is doing other actions for the video. The song is diegetic sound. In the beginning title sequence there is also the asynchronous non-diegetic sound of an old camera 'rolling'. The form is performance, there is not really a clear narrative to the video.
